Flying Tackle
by Commodore Norrington
Summary: Kate thinks Gibbs is in danger.
1. Tackle

She saw his hand reach inside his jacket and time slowed to a crawl. Swinging her head around, she realized who his target must be.  
"Gibbs! Look out!" she yelled. Not waiting for his response, she took off running. Remembering her Secret Service training and football practice with her brother she did the only thing she could.  
Her shoulder rammed into Gibbs' ribcage as she executed a perfect flying tackle. Her arms automatically encircled his torso as they collided and went down together. He grunted heavily as she landed on his chest.  
"Wow," he managed, struggling to breathe.  
"Yeah, that's what they all tell me," she smirked.  
"May I ask what possessed you to do that?"  
"I saw someone reaching for a weapon."  
"Then why hasn't he fired yet?"  
"I guess I was wrong."  
"Yeah." He paused. "Thanks for caring."  
"You're welcome."  
Their eyes met and her breath caught. Inhaling, she was almost overwhelmed with the scent of sawdust and she realized how close they actually were. She could see every hair on his head, every line on his face. Her breathing slowed as she gazed into his piercing blue eyes.  
"Kate," he whispered.  
"Yeah," she replied expectantly.  
"Could you please get off my chest? I can't breathe." 


	2. Jump

"Is it true, Kate?"  
"Is what true, Tony?" she replied exasperatedly.  
"Did you really jump Gibbs?" he asked with an evil grin.  
"What? No! Where do you get this stuff?" Her face twisted into a look of disgust.  
"Well, Gibbs said you did."  
Kate's eyes bulged, then narrowed. "He is so dead."  
"Whoa, Kate, slow down. This is Gibbs we're talking about. Don't make him mad," Tony pleaded.  
"Don't make him mad? After what he said about me? You, I would've expected this from –"  
"Hey!"  
" – But I thought he was better than that. Don't worry, Tony, he'll be in too much pain to be mad."  
"Kate, wait – " But he was too late. She stormed off down the hall, looking for the offending boss.  
Spotting a glimpse of silver over a cubicle, she headed for it. She had no idea what she would do when she found him, but by golly it was going to hurt! She couldn't believe he would say something like that. After his whole, "Romance between agents never works" thing, she would have thought he would keep any relationship quiet. Especially a non-existent one!  
"Gibbs!" she roared when she spotted the familiar form. "Can I talk to you, please?" she muttered politely as about twenty heads all turned to look at her.  
Gibbs nodded, following her into a private room. "I don't appreciate your tone, Agent Todd," he growled as soon as the door was closed.  
"Yeah, well, I don't appreciate you spreading rumors about me. How could you say something like that?" Angry tears sprang to her eyes and she wiped them away furiously.  
"What? What are you talking about?"  
"Don't play stupid with me, Gibbs! You know exactly what I'm talking about!"  
"No, I don't," he said, trying to stay calm.  
"You told Tony that I," she stopped, too hurt to go on.  
"That you what, Kate?"  
"That I...that you and I...that we..." she shook her head. "Never mind. You know what? It doesn't matter. I'm resigning. Or will you even give me that chance?" she spat, throwing his words back in his face.  
"Kate, hold on. You aren't going anywhere till we figure this out. Now, DiNozzo said that I told him that we," he stopped, unsure of how to word it. He settled for a half-hearted sort of hand motion.  
"Yes," she said sullenly.  
"That's not true," he stated firmly.  
"Well, yeah, Gibbs, I think I'd know if it was true."  
"No, I mean, I didn't say that."  
"You didn't?" Kate softened slightly.  
"No."  
"I'm gonna kill Tony!" she snarled, lunging for the door.  
"Kate, stop!" She did. "Let me," he growled.  
They both ran out the door and back down the hallway to their desks. Tony was typing something on his computer and looked up, startled, when both of them dragged him from his chair and pinned him to the wall of his cubicle.  
"DiNozzo, I'm gonna give you to the count of three," Gibbs said in his lowest, most dangerous voice.  
"To do what, boss?" Tony squeaked.  
"To tell us why you said what you did!" Kate inserted. Tony looked confused for a second, then it dawned on him.  
"You mean about how Gibbs said you jumped him?"  
"Is that what you said?" Gibbs asked.  
"Yeah," they chorused. To their surprise, Gibbs let go of Tony's collar and began, of all things, to laugh.  
"Um, Gibbs, I really don't think it's that funny," Kate hissed, her anger building again.  
"Kate, Tony's perverted ears only heard what they wanted to. I said you jumped _on_ me. Nothing more, nothing less. Of course, DiNozzo missed most of the story I was telling Ducky, which included the circumstances of the situation."  
"Oh," Tony spoke up, embarrassed. "Sorry, Kate."  
"Not as sorry as you're gonna be, DiNozzo." 


	3. Bruise

"Ow."  
"You're telling me."  
"She didn't beat you up."  
"She didn't tackle you."  
"Hey, guys, what's going on?" Kate asked as she walked in.  
"Nothing," they replied quickly. Kate gave them an odd look as she set her things on her desk. Typing her report, she glanced surreptitiously at both of them.  
Tony's face was swelling slightly, and one eye was looking kind of dark. Gibbs looked fine, but every once in a while he would wince and massage his chest. Kate grinned slightly. Tony's injuries she had enjoyed inflicting. Gibbs, well, she was sorry he was hurt but it sure had been an experience.  
"Where are you going?" Gibbs asked.  
"Restroom," Kate replied as she walked away. Coming back, she was met with a very strange sight.  
Tony was pointing adamantly at his own face, particularly his black eye. He then slid his shirt off his shoulder to reveal bandages. Kate assumed it was some type of sprain; she had twisted his arm behind his back pretty far. Opening his mouth, he gesticulated to an empty spot in his row of pearly whites. Kate cringed; she didn't know she'd knocked his tooth out. But that was nothing compared to what she saw next.  
Gibbs looked around quickly before unbuttoning his shirt. He was talking to Tony, but Kate couldn't hear what was being said. Finished unbuttoning, he flung his shirt open to reveal a large bruise developing in the middle of his chest. Kate flinched at first; the wound did look rather bad. Then she started to appreciate what she was looking at. Gibbs' chest muscles were perfectly toned, his stomach flat. Kate wondered, also, where he found the time to stay so tan.  
"Ouch, boss, that is bad," Tony's voice floated over to Kate, bringing her back to her senses.  
"Hurts like hell," Gibbs muttered. "And if you tell anyone that, I'll give it to you worse than Kate."  
"Sure, boss, no problem. Um, you know, this black eye doesn't really hurt all that bad, either..." Tony insinuated. Gibbs nodded curtly.  
Kate grinned. So that's how they were going to be, eh? Well, two could play that game.  
"Hey, Tony, Gibbs," she greeted cheerily. Gibbs hurriedly buttoned his shirt and she pretended she hadn't seen. Tony smiled without showing his teeth.  
"Say, Tony," she said, slapping him on the shoulder. He gasped and his eyes widened incredibly. "Did you get those phone records?"  
"Yes," he wheezed. "They're right here." He reached with his other arm and handed them to her.  
"Thanks," she smiled as she patted him on the shoulder again. He managed to nod as tears of pain moistened his eyes. Gibbs was pretending not to watch, but he wore a faint smile.  
"Hey, Gibbs!" Kate called, sidling over to his desk.  
"Yeah," he muttered, not looking up.  
"Here's the files you asked for," she said, shoving a large box into his arms. He grunted lightly as the box rammed into his chest but refused any other acknowledgement of pain.  
Kate grinned as she picked up her bag and sauntered off. "Bye, guys! See you tomorrow."  
"She's enjoying this," Tony declared in amazement.  
Gibbs had a mischievous glint in his eye as he watched Kate walk out. "Not for long." 


	4. Payback

"Kate, get his file. Tony, check phone records."  
"Got it, boss."  
"I'm on it." Kate's fingers flew over the keyboard as she pulled up the victim's personnel file. Or tried to. Glancing quickly at Gibbs, who was hunched over his own computer, she tried again. Same result. "Um, Gibbs? I've got a problem."  
"What?"  
"My, uh, clearance isn't high enough," Kate mumbled, embarrassed.  
"What is your clearance?" Gibbs' face showed nothing.  
"Well, um, that's the strange part. It's saying I don't have any clearance."  
"Did you pull a DiNozzo, Kate?"  
"Hey!"  
"No! I...don't know what happened. This is really weird."  
"Tony, get the file."  
"Yes, boss." Tony hid his grin as he found the file. _This is going to be good!_  
  
----------  
  
The three stepped out of the truck and headed for the house. A hand reached out and stopped Kate.  
"Kate, your clearance isn't high enough to see the crime scene. You go through the trash out back," Gibbs stated matter-of-factly.  
"But Gibbs – " Kate started indignantly.  
"Did that sound like a suggestion?"  
Kate glared at him before stalking off sullenly to sort through the trash. As soon as she was out of earshot, Tony turned to Gibbs.  
"This is great, boss! Yanking her clearance so she gets the dirty work," Tony sighed happily. "It's genius."  
"Great, DiNozzo. Now go help her," Gibbs replied without skipping a beat.  
Tony laughed. "That's a good one, boss. 'Go help her'. Ha!"  
"Do I joke often, DiNozzo?" Gibbs lowered his voice dangerously.  
"No, boss."  
"Then what makes you think this is a joke?"  
"Oh. Right. On it, boss." Tony scampered off to join Kate.  
Gibbs watched with a raised eyebrow. Chuckling slightly after Tony was out of sight, he snapped on a glove and walked into the house.  
"Peace at last." 


End file.
